House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the looming failure of an election reform bill in the Senate on Tuesday signals a need to end the filibuster.
“It will be dramatic evidence of why the filibuster needs to be modified,” the Maryland Democrat told reporters Tuesday.
DEMOCRATIC AGENDA FACES BIGGEST TEST YET THIS WEEK
Senate Republicans are poised to oppose the election overhaul bill unanimously on Tuesday, which will deny Democrats the 60 votes needed to begin debate on the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he will bring up S.1, also known as the For the People Act, on Tuesday, regardless of the inevitable GOP filibuster it faces.
The bill would overhaul campaign finance laws, ban voter ID requirements, extend early voting days, reform redistricting, and enable ballot harvesting.
Democrats say the bill would counter new voter laws implemented in some states and would make voting more accessible.
The measure has passed the Democratic-led House twice, most recently in March.
Republicans say the bill is a political power grab that would federalize elections, increase voter fraud, and tilt the election process in favor of Democrats.
It will be the third time this year the GOP filibusters the Democratic agenda, and party lawmakers are ramping up pressure on Senate Democrats to vote to end the 60-vote threshold.
“The filibuster impedes, undermines, and prohibits the will of the American people being articulated,” Hoyer told reporters. Hoyer called the filibuster “undemocratic.”
Democrats can end the filibuster with a simple majority vote.
But several centrists in their 50-member caucus do not support the change and are urging Republicans and Democrats to seek bipartisan agreements to secure at least 60 votes on legislation.
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In fact, Senate Democrats would have difficulty passing the House version of the election overhaul bill even without the filibuster.
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said he demands changes to the measure, including a provision that elections require at least some form of voter identification.
